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Saturday, August 20, 2011

Ok, so I have neglected MathNotations for over a year and have chosen to express my thoughts in 140 character spurts. I've lost my faithful readership and abandoned the Carnivals.

But the living embodiment of "Kids Say The Darndest Things" will always bring me back. The precious gems uttered by my then 2-yr old grandson still garnered more hits than any Math Ed diatribe or challenge problem, so it's only fitting he would bring me back now that he just turned 4.

Here then are 3 recent anecdotes...

1. He's the only 4-yr old in a summer beginning reading class at our local community college, the other students being 5 and 6. The teacher was reviewing letter recognition and sight words. Each child was asked to come to the board and point to a letter in a word, say, the 'T' in CAT. Things went well until she got to my grandson. "Ok, _____, go to the board and point to the 'B' in BIRD." My grandson, who was sitting with his feet up on the desk, replied with "No thank you. It's the one on the left".

2. My daughter noticed my grandson was spending a lot of time at a party with a certain young lady. On the ride home my daughter teasingly asked my grandson if _______ was his "girlfriend". "No", he emphatically replied, "She's not my girlfriend, she's just a friend!"

3. At the pediodontist the other day, my grandson was doing very well and then the hygienist asked my grandson which of three flavors he would like for his teeth cleaning. My grandson replied, "All three!" She explained they don't do that, he had to pick just one and he came back with, "How many teeth are in my mouth!" She relented and used all 3 flavors. Afterwards she asked which was his favorite and he came back with, "I don't know. They all tasted the same."

Again I suggested to my daughter that she get an unlisted phone number and turn off her cell phone when he starts kindergarten!

"All Truth passes through Three Stages: First, it is Ridiculed... Second, it is Violently Opposed... Third, it is Accepted as being Self-Evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer (1778-1860) You've got to be taught To hate and fear, You've got to be taught From year to year, It's got to be drummed In your dear little ear You've got to be carefully taught. --from South Pacific

1 comment:

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SAT Math Tips

ZERO IS A 'WEIRDO'! (W)hole(E)ven(I)nteger(R)Rational/Real(DO) Cannot Divide by O!BUT Zero is NOT Positive and NOT Negative!

POSITIVE INTEGERS start from 1

PRIMES start from 2 (not 1)

INTEGERS can be NEGative (and zero!) as well as positive

MEMORIZE the formula for the nth term of an arithmetic sequence: a(n) = a(1) + (n-1)d.Example: Consider the sequence of positive integers which leave a remainder of 3 when divided by 4. What is the 100th term?Step 1: List the first few terms 3,7,11,15,... to see the pattern and recognize it is an arithmetic sequence.Step 2: Identify the values which are givenFirst term or a(1) = 3Common difference or d = 4Number of terms or position of desired term or n = 100Step 3: Substitute into formula and solvea(100) = a(1) + (100-1)(4) = 3 + (99)(4) = 399

Of course there are other ways to find the 100th term such as 100 x 4 - 1 but the formula is so useful for so many types of questions it is worth learning!

Know the above by heart and you are way ahead of the game! These facts will absolutely be needed on your next SAT or standardized test!

About Me

Recently retired math educator and Supervisor of Mathematics; 30 years experience as an Advanced Placement Calculus (BC) teacher; Former Author of Math Teachers of New Jersey Annual HS Math Contest; Former K-5 Chair of New Jersey Math Content Standards and Curriculum Frameworks; Former member of Math Item Review Committee for New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment; Experienced SAT Math Instructor and author of SAT materials; speaker at many regional and national math conferences